


Inspiration

by MahoganyDoodles



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-28
Updated: 2019-07-28
Packaged: 2020-07-23 12:57:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20008675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MahoganyDoodles/pseuds/MahoganyDoodles
Summary: Bulma’s used to going to some pretty strange places to find inspiration for her next invention. But this time, she might have bitten off more than she can chew with a certain proprietor of a martial arts supply store.Written for TPTH July Illustrated BVDN (Glow).





	1. Lava White

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for The Prince and The Heiress July Drabble Night! Five prompts which were all pictures, which have been included below, and ~400 words per each. Incredible banner courtesy of BianWW.
> 
> I've always wanted to explore more the ramifications of Bulma's position in Capsule Corp, so here goes!
> 
> Elements of Vegeta's career/the end thereof partially inspired by [rockykelboa's](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rockykelboa/pseuds/rockykelboa) [Dive](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18701656).

Prompt 1: 

Mark Twain once spoke a truth that Bulma has long since accepted: that there’s no such thing as a new idea, just a lot of old ideas that we put into a sort of mental kaleidoscope. After all, by this point, it’s estimated that 100 billion humans have ever lived, so it’s not surprising that someone’s beaten her to an incredible idea. The difference, is that Bulma has the power and the determination to make them real. 

Bulma has never looked a gift horse in the mouth, and so she relishes in fueling her creativity with things that already exist. She contemplates how flowers follow the sun’s path, and creates a mobile solar panel that can rotate to absorb the maximum amount of the sun’s rays at any time of day. She goes to open-air markets and sees vegetables braided down a single rope, and decides to invest money in vertical underwater farming to increase production per square meter of land. Her ability to see the potential in anything keeps the revenue flowing into Capsule Corp hand over fist.

So, when people ask Bulma where she gets her ideas for inventions she just smiles and tells them it’s her little secret. She has shareholders and executives breathing down her spine no matter how many times she reminds them that _she’s_ in charge, and she doesn’t need them monitoring her journeys for inspiration too. 

It’s with this in mind that she escapes the lab today, telling her secretary she’s onto something huge and marches out the door. Sure, she doesn’t know what it is yet, but she’s got a good feeling that inspiration will find her. 

And that’s how she finds herself stumbling into, well, she doesn’t quite know what it is. It seems to be combination of a martial arts supplies store, but also a homeopathic wellness shop? The room is littered with crystals and orange balls glowing softly. 

And what the hell is a Senzu bean?

This is it. She can practically feel the hum of new ideas in the air, now she just has to find them. 

She decides to start in the back and work her way to the front. At the last shelf, a set of lava lamps catches her eye. They’re day and night, fluorescent blue-white and dark red-black, warmth and cold. And in their reflection, a severe face standing behind her, face fixed in a glare.

“Can I _help_ you?”

  



	2. Jellyfish Might

Prompt 2:

Bulma twisted around. With his face no longer distorted by the reflection of the glass, she was surprised to find just how shockingly handsome the stranger was. And not just that, but _ripped._ But his most defining feature was the cloud of attitude around him that practically screamed _"I’m an asshole”._

Ah, so exactly her type. 

“I said, can I _help_ you?”

Bulma started. “Yeah actually. I wanted to ask about this lava lamp.”

“It’s not a lava lamp you idiot, it’s a colony of Namekian jellyfish polyps.”

She gasped and spun back to peer at the jellyfish. “These are from Namek? I thought Namek placed stringent regulations on export of native species, especially since they’re a principal ingredient in many folk medicines used by Namekian healer-types. All the papers I’ve read can’t find any medical use but do indicate they emit some kind of energy called a Blutz wave and—” 

“Tch. Just because it’s folk medicine doesn’t mean it doesn’t work.” The blue spheres bounced against the glass as Bulma shifted their container, trying to get a better look at the warming mechanism. A hand grabbed the back of her shirt. “That’s fragile! You break it, you bought it.”

“Not to worry, I’m good for my word. If I break something, I’ll replace it.”

He released her shirt but continued to glare at her. “What are you even doing here? You don’t look like the customers I normally get.”

“What, a citizen can’t have an interest in the local economy?” Bulma scoffed, turning her head away from his, narrowing in on the advertisement she had passed coming in. “And what the hell is a Senzu bean?”

“Senzu beans are a ki replenisher. They’re also an ingredient used in the traditional medicines you have no respect for.”

Oof. Okay, that was deserved. She tried to change the subject. “So then, what _do_ the customers you normally get look like? 

He grunted and turned to walk back towards the front of the store, and she noticed his cane for the first time. His right leg was completely immobile, the muscle clearly degraded from lack of use. 

He stopped behind a counter and gestured at the wall where countless trophies were displayed. “Mostly martial arts students coming for lessons. Most of the products in this store are used for enhanced training.”

“How are you supposed to teach students with your leg all— er…” Bulma knew she had made a mistake.

His eyes narrowed. “I was one of the greatest martial artists in the world before a high voltage taser was used repeatedly on my leg, resulting in permanent nerve damage.” He leaned across the counter. “And I could still kick your ass, one leg or two. So, are you going to buy something, or get the fuck out of my store?”

Bulma chewed her lip. She had come here to find inspiration, but so far, she’d only found a man she found frustratingly attractive. And that she couldn’t stop offending. Great.

“I’ll take one of the Namekian jellyfishes and a Senzu bean.”


	3. Starry Light

Prompt 3:

The ceiling of Bulma’s lab twinkled, dotted with stars and planets and far away galaxies. She had always had an affinity for space, but in West City it was so hard to get away from the light pollution to really  _ see. _ This simulated starlit sky she had installed in her lab wasn’t the same, but it was something and it was hers. 

She sighed. After the store owner had—rightfully so—kicked her out, she couldn’t stop thinking about him. She had ventured into his store looking for solutions but had only left with more problems. Her creative juices had finally stalled. 

Well, that wasn’t quite it. Her brain was still racing, it just wasn’t focused on anything that would be helpful for Capsule Corp. Her brain was firmly, resolutely, stuck on the handsome stranger she had offended. She had stuck her foot in her mouth multiple times during her brief visit there, first dismissing the folk medicine he so clearly believed in (and shouldn’t she have known that? It was part wellness store for Kami’s sake), and then immediately followed that up with assumptions about his ability status. 

Her temples throbbed, eliciting another sigh from the scientist. She turned her head away from the stars, eyes focused on the dark wall, the only light coming from the softly glowing jellyfish left on her desk. 

Injection of small doses of the Senzu bean into living matter had been fascinating to watch. Like he had said, it was a ki replenisher. Ki wasn’t recognized by the scientific community with the same meaning as it was by martial artists, but the flow of energy to cells could be clearly observed in Bulma’s experiments. And the Namekian jellyfish acted like stem cells in some ways. She’d seen little improvement when combining the jellyfish with healthy plants, but in withered plants it had shored up roots and leaves and allowed the plant to start absorbing nutrients again.

He’d said a high-powered taser had been used on his leg until nerve damage resulted. No one did that to themselves for fun, right? It had to have been done unwillingly to him. God, if he kept invading her thoughts, she’d never be able to focus on her work.

What if she was thinking about this all wrong? What if she could solve one problem with another? What if her learnings about the jellyfish and Senzu beans properties could help his leg? And if she could start a movement to reexamine traditional medicine and find a way to blend both modern and traditional, well. 

She’d say that was one hell of an inspiration.


	4. City Night

Prompt 4:

The bell tinkled as Bulma walked through the Kame House store door. 

“Back again? Feh, I was hoping I was finally rid of you.”

Bulma grinned. She’d been coming back to the store for the past three days, pestering him to learn more about the properties of his magic beans and the jellyfish, and for a step by step explanation of just how ki actually worked. 

She’d learned a lot. 

She’d learned his name is Vegeta.

She’d also learned, from light internet searching, that he wasn’t kidding when he said he had been one of the best martial artists in the world. 

She’d also learned, from extensive internet searching, that no one seemed to know quite what had happened to him. There are theories and speculation everywhere, but the one consistency is the whisper of a name. _Frieza._

But most importantly, she’d learned through trial and error and rigorous interrogation that the effect of the Senzu bean was amplified when combined with extract from the Namekian jellyfish, enabling a small portion from both to be used to restore new life to previously dying tissue.

She’s insisted to him that she keeps coming back to learn about her two key ingredients, but also… she just needs to see him. He’s one of the few people who’s _real_ with her, who doesn’t treat her like a princess or some rogue asset to be managed. He treats her like he would any other person. That is to say, like dirt. But despite his vitriolic exterior, she can see the way his eyes light up when they talk about martial arts. And he hasn’t ordered her to leave, even though she hasn’t bought anything new at his store in the days she’s spent lurking. Not that she won’t—but for the moment, she’s got her hands more than full enough with the Senzu and the jellyfish.

She’d spent the morning of the third day grilling him for the last details she needed to perfect her serum, and after running several successful trials in the afternoon, she’s back at his shop, stomach twisting in knots. 

If he notices that she’s more subdued than she was this morning, he doesn’t say anything. The day bleeds into nightfall, and finally they’re alone in the store, looking out at the city night where it glitters and glows. 

She works up her courage. “Vegeta?” He grunts in response. 

“I finally made a breakthrough. I was able to stabilize the blend of beans and jellyfish and—well, and it worked. It healed dying tissue.” She turned to him and she let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. “And I wanted to ask you if you wanted to come to Capsule Corp and try it.”


	5. Neon Bright

Prompt 5:

“Absolutely not.”

If space is a vacuum, then she’s pretty sure she must be there right now because all the air has been sucked out of her lungs. She wouldn’t have been surprised if he hadn’t been interested, but for the first time the vitriol he wears as armor has been turned on her. “Is there any particular reason why you’re so opposed?”

“Well Dr. Briefs—”

“You’ve known who I am this whole time?” She demands.

“Of course. How could I not know who you were with that absurd hair color? I know who you are, and what you do. I know that Capsule Corp sees something special and only registers the potential money it can bring in. And then they exploit to ensure they’re the top of the industry. I humored you because if I turned you away on the first day, you would just buy the beans and jellyfish elsewhere. I answered your questions because I thought you were different, and it seemed like you were genuinely interested in learning and understanding. And I find you amusing, I’ll give you that. But for you to say you’re going to turn this into another business avenue which will only exploit the Namekian ecosystem, exploit the small farmers who grow Senzu beans, exploit the knowledge of martial arts I shared with you… there is no part of me that would ever want to be part of that.”

Bulma is frozen in shock. The things that he was saying—they couldn’t be true, could they? But they _were._ All the board meetings she’s tuned out because she can’t be bothered to pay attention to financials, the cutting legal team writing every loophole they could think of into contracts, the documents she’d signed off on to solicit raw materials without consideration of the environmental impact. 

He’s absolutely right. In the absence of regulation… Capsule Corp may have become a force of greed in the world. And she needs to start taking responsibility for it, and start now. But to think all she wanted to do was exploit him as well—that hurt. 

“I’d love to say that you’re wrong, but in many ways, I think I’ve just turned a blind eye to it all. I innovated and designed and left the business side to the board without thinking about how my inventions could hurt, rather than help.” She stands from her chair, crossing the room to stand at the door. “I’m not going to lie. I came here for inspiration, and I found it. I still think that a reexamination of traditional medicine could advance our medical knowledge by decades. But you’re right. I need to watch carefully and consider the ramifications of my actions. I’ve failed in that so far, and it’s time to take responsibility.” She steps through the door and out onto the city street. “But the healing serum, that was just for you.”

* * *

Bulma hasn’t left her lab in days. She’s spent every waking minute combing through legal documents, calling VPs down for meetings, and searching complaints against Capsule Corp.

She’s not happy with what she finds. 

Vegeta was right. And she has a lot of work to do to set things right. 

She sets down the contract she had been reviewing with a sigh. Was the good Capsule Corp doing in the world truly outweighing the bad?

Out of the corner of her eye, the light of the jellyfish catches her attention. She wheels over to the table where it rests. Several syringes lay next to it, the mixture a neon blue. She had prepared several syringes of the serum before she had returned to Vegeta’s that fateful evening in the hopes they’d be in trials even the next morning but now… it looked like that might never happen. 

Her door opened with a slam and she jumped in her seat, startled by the loud noise. Vegeta was marching across the room, cane tapping steadily as he approached her. 

“I’m sorry Dr. Briefs! I tried to stop him.” Her panicked assistant trailed in his wake. 

“No, no. It’s fine Erica. Thank you for coming to tell me. I think we might need to talk privately.” Her assistant nodded, closing the door behind her as she exited. 

“So…” Bulma trailed off.

“I thought a lot on what you had to say, woman. While I do not think I have misjudged the actions of your company, I may have misjudged yours. I want to test your theory on the healing serum.

“No—I meant what I said. You were right about a lot of it.” She gestured towards her desk, littered in papers. “That’s what all this is. I’ve been going through all the company records. Ever since my dad died I just… well, I let things slip through the cracks. And you were right, other people have paid the price.”

He sat down on the exam table, lifting his right leg to rest next to his left. He crossed his arms and began tapping his finger on his bicep impatiently. “Just put it in, _now._ I’m sure you’ll continue to regale me with tales of your change of heart whether I want to hear them or not.”

“Fine, fine, but cool your jets hotrod. I’m warning you right now it’s a multi-day therapy, so you’ll have to come back. This is just the first dose.”

The needle penetrates the subcutaneous tissue of his thigh easily. The result is immediate—lines of luminescent blue painting his leg, extending up his torso and across his face. His right cheekbone glows, subtly illuminating the onyx of his eyes.

And his leg starts to move. 

He flexes his knee smoothly, staring down in awe. “What do I owe you in return?”

She grins. “You know, I think I could do with some martial arts lessons.”


End file.
